Month: March 2011

Brioche Beanie Beret

March 29, 2011

  This is my new hat pattern which I’ve been working on over the last few months and is now available on Ravelry. Working with the wonderful colours available in sock yarns and a main yarn, or a gorgeous solid main and contrast yarn, it uses a brioche stitch to create a distinctive stitch pattern emphasising contrasts or compliments in colour.  The great thing is that you don’t need a lot of the contrasting yarn … More Brioche Beanie Beret

Stunning Knitwear – One

March 28, 2011

I’ve been interested in how knitwear, and crochet, has been experiencing a revivial in high end fashion collections recently. In my last post I linked to Paul Smith’s Granny square dress. However, last week I was at the hairdressers flicking through a copy of Harpers and came across this stunning dress by Peter Pilotto: I love the use of mitred sections at the bust and how the use of colour emphasises the structure – here’s a close … More Stunning Knitwear – One

Phoenix Project

March 24, 2011

Whilst working on hat patterns I have been doing other things, including a fair bit of crochet. This has included digging out some small crochet squares that I made last year whilst on holiday. The idea had been to make a blanket from squares crocheted at different stages of our travels through France, Spain and Portugal. As it was I got sidetracked by othe knitting projects I’d taken with me and didn’t have enough squares for a … More Phoenix Project

Peach Blossom and more spawn…

March 21, 2011

Things are really taking off at the allotment. I was excited when we had our first frog spawn in the pond, but just look how much there is now: This won’t all make it to frogs, our pond is too small. At first I was quite distressed to see tadpoles not maturing as the year went on, but then last year when I found the dragonfly on the whitecurrant I looked into the life-cycle of the dragonfly and felt better. … More Peach Blossom and more spawn…

On the Toon…

March 18, 2011

Last week we spent a few days in Newcastle upon Tyne visiting friends and, for Paolo a conference, and for me some cheese and yarn shopping. I rather like Newcastle, it so different now compared to the Newcastle I visited in the 1980s when most British cities were pretty grim. I like the fact that it’s not overwhelming, totally walkable, has lots of green open space. Our friends currently live near Heaton Park which is … More On the Toon…